HELP!

[cs-x]

Today, when I left work, my car was running fine.  When I got out of the parking lot and around the corner, I was waiting in the traffic lineup and the car all of a sudden starting shaking really badly.  Because of the overpopulated traffic situation here, I knew I better pull off to the building right accross the street from work and have a look.  I didn't find anything, but the car did correct itself (no more shaking, idling normal).  This lasted about 10 seconds (right to the point where I was about to say 'I think it's good' and go) but it died.  There was no code set, and I carry a reader, so I know this for a fact.  When I restarted it, it was shaking again right off the get go, only now I seem to have lost all my power.  my top speed was 40 km/h.  I tried the car in all gears, and it was shaking no matter what, so this shouldn't be the transmission (at least not any particular gear).  I should also mention that when I turn accessories on, heat, lights, etc., I lose even more of what little power I have left.  I metered my battery, and it was at 14.3V with the car running.  All lights seem nice and bright, all the trouble is coming from under the hood somewhere.

Now.. I have had another problem for about 1 year now where the car won't start.  It just goes click most times, and sometimes it will begin to turn over but give up.  Then there's other times when it fires righht away.  I've had my starter replaced twice, my alternator replaced, and recently (2 weeks ago) a brand new battery went in.  I checked all my ground wires (I think) and they all metered fine.  But I was told that a wire can carry power, but not the current if it's damaged just right.

What is the problem with my car?  Could it be a bad ground wire that's finally given up the ghost?  Alternator?  Transmission?  Please help!

My car is a '89 base beretta 2.slow.. I don't have any power to spare in the first place

[ozzy]

i have a 90 2.2 ...have you checked out the convertor exhaust output?..when was the last time you replaced the 02 sensor and  decarboned the egr valve?..my 2.2 never runs a code..you may want to also check the intake gasket for a leak...my 2.2 is llike a friggen swiss clock..one little thing out and it acts up...these 2.2 were one of the worst engines produced by gm...also unplug your overdrive..it could have gone bad on you

[cs-x]

I replaced the O2 sensor early this year.  How do I unplug my overdrive?

I'll check the EGR and intake this weekend.

[ErichZ26]

you probably have a bad  ground  somehwhere. did  you check  the  ground thats behind  the  battery to the  chassis? that  one  is common  to get corroded. you   can try  using a set   of jumper   cables   to confirm  it.  put  them on  the  battery ground and  the engine block at the bellhousing  where  the negative cable bolts. if it starts right up you need to clean up your grounds better or  remove  them  and test resistance  to  make  sure  they  arent  bad.

[Cliff8928]

Testing resistance on a wire like that doesn't really do that much good.  Unfortunately the multimeter can't really pass that much current through the wire to know when it's going bad in most cases.  You're better off doing a voltage drop test where you place the positive and negative probes of the mutimeter (on the voltage setting) across the wire when there is a load placed on the system.  Any measured voltage should be minimal if any, if not the suspected wire should be replaced.

[leadfoot93]

we just had one of those come into work today turned out that his plugs/wires/and coils were bad so i'd check those and if they go bad you'll want to test the ICM while youre at it